


The Beholders

by ChainSmokesPens



Category: Original Work
Genre: College, Flash Fic, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28430502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChainSmokesPens/pseuds/ChainSmokesPens
Summary: Prompt: [WP] You live in a world were everyone had some kind of vision based ability. From seeing red threads between lovers to mood-ring like color codes for how people are feeling, everyone can see something no one else can. Except you. You were born blind, and your “power” is just normal vision.





	The Beholders

I didn't remember when I went to sleep, but I do remember waking up. I opened my eyes for a quick scan before closing them again.

Thank goodness I woke up in my own room, at least. Even if I was asleep on the floor.

From this vantage point I could hear my roommate playing Pink Floyd in his room beneath mine, though I couldn't hear him moving around. There was a faint sizzling and crackling sound a little farther off. He must've been making breakfast.

I ran through my morning routine. By memory I knew where the sink was, so I could brush my teeth. I knew where my desk was, so I could find my hairbrush. And I knew where my dresser was, so I could get my clothes.

Running through my morning routine with my eyes closed day after day gave me a sort of photographic memory. But that didn't help me when it came to picking out a tee to wear. I stood in front of my mirror and opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw in the mirror were my eyes. My lashes shimmered slightly and my pupils and irises glowed. I didn't know much about color, but my doctors were able to determine that everything I saw was in shades of blue. Didn't bother me much unless I was at the beach; I hated the beach. Looking myself over, I saw that the winner of Graphic Tee Roulette today was a concert tee I picked up from the thrift shop. I shut my eyes and made my way downstairs.

There was sizzling from the kitchen, along with the overwhelming smell of sausage and cayenne-covered eggs. Derrick used cayenne like the ocean used salt.

Usually I didn't need to feel my way around the living room, but the morning after a party was a different thing entirely. The couch and lamp tended to get moved, sometimes the television was on the opposite side of the room. No major run-ins occurred, though the floor was sticky with spilled beer.

I could hear snoring from the couch. Actually, one person was snoring. Another was lightly breathing. I knew the former was Leigh. I couldn't identify the latter.

"Morning, Jesse," I heard from the kitchen. The smile on Derrick's face was audible. "I didn't expect all that out of you last night. For a blind man you have weirdly good hand-eye coordination."

I slid onto a stool at the island. Jesse dropped a cup of coffee in front of me. I hadn't heard the pot going since I got up, so I figured it'd been sitting for a while.

Whatever. My favorite flavor was free. I pounded it back. "I'm more surprised that your coordination was so bad, especially considering your OB."

Derrick's ocular blessing, according to him at least, highlighted the best course of motion in a given situation, shining yellow where he should go and violet where he shouldn't. This helped him kill it at beer pong. At least until he got too many beers in him.

"Maybe play me sober next time."

"You're never sober at a party."

He plopped a paper plate in front of me. "Touché."

I heard a faint, feminine groan from the couch, followed by the creaking of the upholstery. I opened my eyes to locate where each piece of food on my plate was before shutting them again. The creaking on the upholstery stopped.

"Morning, Ms. Tyler. Would you like some breakfast?" Derrick called over me.

The feminine voice responded. "No." It paused. "I'm going to the bathroom."

I heard bare-footed steps scurry to the bathroom. "Leigh's new girlfriend?"

"Bed buddy. Probably short term. Tanned, blonde-"

"I don't know wat those are," I said through sausage-filled teeth.

"Right. Bob cut, bottom-heavy, shorter than Leigh, but taller than you.

I sipped more cold coffee before switching topics. "Tobias?"

I didn't see, but could hear, the smile drop from Derrick's face. "He left this morning. He was pretty upset. The patch was on his left eye."

"I see." Tobias' ability only occupied one eye at a time, but switched between them when it realized the eye it occupied wasn't being used. It allowed him to always see the object of his affection as they were at that time.

I mused for a bit, before asking, "Tobias went to bed early last night, didn't he?"

"Yeah. He told me Thursday that he was doing that community service thing at the library, but that shouldn't be until noon."

I continued. "Do you know if Leigh and...?" I motioned to where I knew the bathroom door to be.

"Last night, prob-" It hit Derrick then. "Oh. If you're right that's unfortunate."

Tyler stepped out of the bathroom and stopped. She didn't say anything for a noticeable minute, before asking, "Derrick, who are you talking to?"

A little more silence, before I said, "Me." I could hear her squeak in surprise.

"Maybe open your eyes, Jesse."

I complied. It did the trick, because next she said, "Oh my god, there is someone there! I thought you were just crazy."

"Well I am, but that's unrelated."

She extended her hand to me. "I'm so sorry. I'm Tyler."

I looked her over once. "I'm Jesse."

"I'm sorry." She took the stool next to mine and I was suddenly uncomfortable, so I shut my eyes again. She caught sight of this, and stammered, saying, "I don't see people. I can only tell where they are by the manifestation of their OG."

"I don't understand."

"Well," she began. I could hear her stealing my other sausage from my plate. "I stopped seeing people when I was ten. I saw their abilities instead. When I look at Derrick, I don't see just him; I see a giant golden snake coiled around a purple tree."

"Huh," he mused. "Now I know what my next tattoo will be."

"With you, it's like you're invisible right now. But, when you open your eyes, I can see you. And I can see some sort of angel with her hands covering your face."

I considered this. "Does she look like me?"

"Yes."

Mom, I thought. "That sounds cool. But—and you're free not to answer if you'd like—when you look at Leigh..."

I could feel her discomfort, I didn't need to see it. I couldn't blame her. Without his sunglasses on Leigh could only see the worst in people. "It's some sort of person wrapped in black leather." She leaned in close and whispered, "I think it might be a sex thing."

So she didn't know. Damn it, Leigh. I cracked my eyes momentarily and looked to make sure he had his shades on. He did.

"What's your power?" She asked.

I pulled my attention back to her. "Ah. Well, when I open my eyes I can see.

There was a pause and Derrick chuckled. My guess was that she made a weird face at my answer. "That's...how sight works."

"Not for me." I finished off my room-temp coffee before continuing. "You see, I was born blind. And my eyes were, apparently, crooked and dim, so it made people really uncomfortable. I got into the habit of keeping my eyes closed until about four years ago, when I learned I could see with them open."

"Then why don't you keep them open all the time?"

"It strains them if I do. The longest I've gone with them open is an hour."

"Wow." She shifted in her seat. "That sucks. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. The hardest part about vision for me was learning how to read and write, but I got that sorted out like a year-and-a-half ago." I opened my eyes again, just to see her face.

The blue of her cheeks tinged a few shades darker. "Your eyes are very pretty."

I shut them and tucked my head away. "Thank you."

**Author's Note:**

> This was a really good prompt. I use 750words when I write these things, so I seldom get into too much detail, but I feel like an author could really expand on this idea in some really creative ways.


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